Creating Wealth and Prosperity

When all the workers have employment and use machinery in production, we will have a great, new source of wealth. If we do not use state power to build up these enterprises but leave them in the hands of private citizens or of foreigner businessmen, the result will be the expansion of private capital and the emergence of a great wealthy class with consequent inequalities in society.

The quote above was from a man influenced by progressives in America, in particular Henry George who put forth the idea that land belongs to everyone so it should be taxed in order to make things more equal. The notion was to punish the wealthy through these taxes as there was no way everyone in the nation would all of a sudden be on the same economic plane. Judging from political rhetoric these days it would be easy to see the above quote come from Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden, but instead it was from Sun Yat-Sen (in quote the word citizen is really Chinese).

All major leaders of China adopted the Three Principles of Yat-Sen with a twist to make it fit their own philosophies. Keep in mind these ideas were promoted in the late 1800s and in place after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Also keep in mind that China suffered immense poverty since adopting these principles, only until it recently allowed its most productive citizens to become rich, which in turn would reduce their wealth and close the income inequality gap. This obviously sounds like paying a "fair share" for those that already pay the lion's share of taxes in the nation. The main point is these schemes at best assuage that blood lust that comes from envy.

It doesn't create prosperity.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Occupy movement and it came and went in a whimper although there were more than one hundred arrests. The crowds chanted about shared prosperity and massive taxes. It's really amazing that those with no skin in the game want to divvy up the earnings of those that have actually toiled for decades. While America has rejected the ideology delivered by young vagrants, when dressed up in political clover and pretty words it's gaining appeal. It looks like the last man standing between America and a version of socialism is Mitt Romney whose bashful and meek stance is alarming.

We need the expansion of private capital; we need to push back government spending which has crowded out the private sector and we must get back to the notion of creating great wealth that will reward all those that break a sweat and encourage those that don't to understand the wisdom of capitalism and its true rewards.

This brings me to Mitt Romney and his latest inelegant gaffe.

Mitt was Oh So Right and Oh So Wrong

A lot of poor people have entered into a Faustian deal where they will live off the government and in return always vote for the government that promises them the freest stuff. America has become a dependence nation and the administration is promising even more stuff from the government after taking it from the (evil) rich.

It would be dishonest to suggest that not only are their people riding the welfare gravy train, but more are being seduced to this new American Dream every day. A large chunk of these people are lazy, a large chuck are people that want better but have no clue and another chunk are those that have truly given up.

This is where Romney's words hurt the most - the idea any president would encourage welfare and promote food stamps with a happy face is terrible just as the idea those people will never see the light. The President of the United States is supposed to promote capitalism and success and God to the masses. Give up on these people? On the contrary, our leader must spend extra time getting all Americans to buy into the dream. Republicans play into the hands of poverty pimps and the like when they give up on people that will never vote for them.

A lot of the 47% believe they are taking responsibility for their lives by taking advantage of all the government programs. Of course, part and parcel to that package is the notion of victimization that somehow their plight is not their fault (gosh... where have we heard that) but someone else's fault. People they've never met. People that actually make sacrifices and take risks and create opportunities for others are the target of scorn rather than admiration (unless they're celebrities). Romney should be cheering capitalism as the great equalizer. Romney should tout the ability to really get even by getting rich because eating a hunk of government cheese isn't real revenge.

Plus, a republican can get the votes of those in lower economic brackets. Ronald Reagan got 43% of the under $15,000 vote. Romney just made class warfare easier.

Charles V. Payne is a regular contributor to the Fox Business and Fox News Networks.
He is also the Chief Executive Officer and Principle Analyst of Wall Street Strategies, Inc. (WSSI), founded in 1991 which provides subscription analytical services to both individual and institutional investors.

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